Life Can Be Difficult...

It's common to think that it's very difficult to be a real Christian...one who sincerely and humbly follows after Christ, seeking to know him and make him known to others. And for sure, if one is genuine about following the Way of Christ, it is indeed a real challenge.

But it also seems to me that this isn't the whole truth, for there is a true cost to not being a real Christian, too. You see, many misguidedly think it's easy to live one's life for themselves but difficult to live for Christ. But as Soren Kierkegaard challenged:

"It costs a man just as much or even more to go to hell than to come to heaven. Narrow, exceedingly narrow is the way to perdition."

I think Kierkegaard's got a good point - the cost is real either way. To depart from the Christ-life is to choose a life of crushing burdens, failures and disappointments, a life caught in the pain of endless problems without depth of meaning or resolution. On the other hand, the cost of following Christ will take all that we have, but it's actually a small price to pay compared to those who don't accept Christ's invitation to real life.

In the end, life can be difficult either way...so why not choose Christ and find real life? What do YOU think?

Lookin' Up,
Pastarod

I think I'm growing up...

What's it like to grow up, to realize one is becoming something? I look around at the way my life is going and I am astounded...

• I am forty now. Where is life going? I'm not old (though my kids seem to think so!), but I'm no longer young. My knees ache already - I thought that was for people much older than me. It feels like halftime of a big game...much has been accomplished, but there's only so much time to push toward the end.
• My oldest daughter is now in high school. I drop her off at school and I feel both excited for her as she's experiencing so much, and I feel tentative at the wounds she may experience. My youngest daughter is in first grade. There's such a span there...it won't be long before I start marrying them off.
• God is more real to me now than ever before, but there's so much growing with Him yet to do. I feel like Philip, one of Jesus' followers, who asked Jesus to "show them the Father." Jesus' response: "Philip, don't you even know who I am, even after all the time I have been with you?"

Maybe you feel the same? I don't know. But the more I think about it, the more I hope I'm growing up...

Lookin' Up, Pastarod